Oxnard gets earful about proposed gang injunction

Some say it's dictatorial effort; others cite needs

For two hours Tuesday, the Oxnard City Council heard city residents
such as Vicky Gonzales applaud a proposed measure to curb gang activity
in the city and others such as Gloria Delgado call it dictatorial.

Support waxed and waned as 23 residents and community activists
spoke during the council's public comment period and delivered
sometimes emotional opinions about the proposed injunction against La
Colonia Chiques, the largest gang in Ventura County. Although the
council allowed the public and law enforcement officials to discuss the
injunction at the meeting, the matter will be decided in Ventura County
Superior Court.

Cheers and applause followed comments from residents such as
Francisco Carlos Romero, who thrust his fists into the air, calling for
an investigation of the Oxnard Police Department.

Romero said there are a lot more people scared of the police than of
gangs.

"I'll have respect for the Police Department when they start
cleaning their own house," he said.

The chambers brimmed with people divided over the proposal, which is
expected to be heard by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Frederick
Bysshe on May 24. If approved, it would designate 6.6 square miles of
the city as a safety zone. In the zone, documented La Colonia Chiques
members could not possess alcohol or wear any type of gang clothing,
including Dallas Cowboys attire, and would have to observe a 10
p.m.-to-sunrise curfew requiring them to remain inside the "safety
zone," as well as other rules.

Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten said the injunction
would result in less gang violence. "This injunction will allow law
enforcement to address the flashing of gang signs, the wearing of gang
colors," Totten said before the standing-room-only crowd. "I have great
confidence in this injunction."

Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez, rejecting the idea that gang members
are merely misguided youths, said he wants to stop the violence in the
city. "They are nothing more than thugs and street terrorists," Lopez
said.

Ventura Fernandez accused council members for misusing tax money
instead of contributing to youth programs to alleviate the gang problem
related to the 1,000-member La Colonia Chiques.

"Quit donating a million dollars for the golf course and start
donating some money for programs for these kids to go to," said
Fernandez, a member of the Southwinds Area Neighborhood Council.

City Councilman Andres Herrera replied that the city has been
supporting youth programs for years and that more than intervention is
needed. "Now it's important for us to move in the enforcement
area."

Herrera also rebutted accusations from some activists that the gang
injunction would create a police state similar to the one in Iraq.
"We're not going to occupy La Colonia," Herrera said.

Mayor Manuel Lopez encouraged continued dialogue among the
community, police, Ventura County District Attorney's Office, which is
seeking the injunction, and local activists.

Councilman Dean Maulhardt also supported the injunction and called
for an increase in recreation and entertainment venues in the city,
while Councilman John Zaragoza called the measure a necessary step to
take when youth intervention and traditional law enforcement don't
work.